Well, I guess we can keep doing this. As I said, we have a difference of opinion.

<<<I suppose I should have said "isn't going to do much good" or something of that sort, but I stand by my statement.>>>

As I do mine.

<<<I'm sure you could make someone let go of you very quickly with a 3 inch or even a 2 inch knife, but I'm also sure you could get someone to let go of you without a knife.>>>

Perhaps not. I may need to make "something" let go rather than "someone." In as I do not get to choose when I have to "get free," on the day in question I may be ill, or injured, needing an "edge."

<<<I'm sure that using a knife to get someone to let go of you would be a bit... frowned upon... once John Q. Publicservent shows up to investigate why the walls and/or floor have been painted red with some poor schmuck's blood (even if the schmuck desperately deserved it).>>>

You can't eat your cake and have it to. My "underperforming" pocket knife couldn't possibly do that much damage according to you.

<<< If you're going to get all stabby or slashy you better have a really really good reason for it. Especially someone with your physical skills Mr. Tripp, you'll have to explain why you didn't just judo throw your attacker till he was no longer a threat (we both know it's not that simple, but convincing a cop/judge/prosecutor/and or jury may not be as easy). >>>

Phui. Throwing someone on their head would be far more of a problem. Carrying an ILLEGAL knife all the more so. This is not my first time to the dance. I had lawyers as students when I had the school and we went over this all the time. I am going to be following the 4 rules and as such what ever I am dealing with is going to be a situation where a reasonable person would be in fear of bodily harm. Slashing the hand/arm of a person who is trying to hold me to rob or assault me is NOT excessive force.

<<<Bottom line: you will be in serious legal trouble if you pull a knife unless you need to stop a serious committed attack.>>>

On this we agree, why do you think I would use it for any other reason?

<<<A 3 inch blade is only going to stop an attacker if you hit eyes or coratid artery. Even hitting the eyes is iffy to actually stop the attack, the attacker is may not stop at the loss of one eye, and may still be able to grapple with you without either (not such a big problem for us maybe, but a smaller person may still be seriously injured by a large blinded grappling attacker). Also, being able to hit such small targets quickly, the first time, against a resisting committed attacker, requires constant maintenance of knife skills that not all of us have the luxury or facility to continually hone.>>>

So, for a moment accepting this as true, which I do not, your suggestion is what? Break the law and carry something much bigger? Carry nothing and hope my unarmed skills are up to the task? Submit and hope they don't hurt me? This is where your point falls apart. No matter what you are dealing with, if the knife is illegal, then you are breaking the law. Now they are looking at you as a bad guy.

I will also say that a slash over the eyebrows causing blood to poor into your eyes makes it very hard to continue or to follow me when I run away.

<<<My opinion is that the presence of a knife is more likely to cause problems than it is to solve them. I suggest you leave them at home, unless you have a legitimate need of one as a tool. >>>

Mine is that the concept of PPD's (personal protection devices) is VERY important in today's world. The pocket knife has a very important place among them, along with Pepper Spray, Walking Sticks, Mini-Mag Lights, and any other LEGAL device, such as a licensed handgun.

<<<This is my suggestion; do as you will.>>>

I shall, its that difference of opinion point I made. We can agree to disagree.

"Out of every hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back." -- Hericletus, circa 500 BC

[Edit: guys, this is my EDC at this moment, Cold Steel Recon1. Great length, not too "tactical" doesn't make folks really nervous...]

Last edited by Jim_Jude; 5/09/2010 4:05pm at .

"Judo is a study of techniques with which you may kill if you wish to kill, injure if you wish to injure, subdue if you wish to subdue, and, when attacked, defend yourself" - Jigoro Kano (1889)
***Was this quote "taken out of context"?***

"The judoist has no time to allow himself a margin for error, especially in a situation upon which his or another person's very life depends...."
~ The Secret of Judo (Jiichi Watanabe & Lindy Avakian), p.19

"Hope is not a method... nor is enthusiasm."
~ Brigadier General Gordon Toney

You are not free whose liberty is won by the rigour of other, more righteous souls. Your are merely protected. Your freedom is parasitic, you suck the honourable man dry and offer nothing in return. You who have enjoyed freedom, who have done nothing to earn it

I agree with coach Tripp. you can make a 6 inch deep wound with a 2" blade it's called tissue compression and tissue compresses a lot easier with a hole through it. Neds in Glasgow often use carpet/craft knives to **** each other up with a blade 1˝" long. Stick to legal carry.

I agree with coach Tripp. you can make a 6 inch deep wound with a 2" blade it's called tissue compression and tissue compresses a lot easier with a hole through it. Neds in Glasgow often use carpet/craft knives to **** each other up with a blade 1˝" long. Stick to legal carry.

Agree, although target selection is just as important. In colder climates, going after an attacker's torso with a small knife is not going to be very effective if the person is wearing a winter coat, for example. The attacker's face and hands are more likely to be exposed, or at least have less covering on them than the trunk of the body. Those targets in particular have a lot of nerves, and a lot of blood vessels. It is possible to do some damage without a large blade.